Gaara the fifth horseman
by Grimm48
Summary: When Apocalypse woke up and empowered his four horsemen there was in fact a fifth one, Gaara a young mutant with the powers to turn into sand. Pairing: Gaara x Jean (x Storm)
1. Chapter 1

Gaara the fifth horseman

Summary: When Apocalypse woke up and empowered his four horsemen there was in fact a fifth one, Gaara a young mutant with the powers to turn into sand.

Pairing: Gaara x Jean (x Storm)

* * *

En Sabah Nur has just awoken from his near eternal slumber and is walking through the streets of Egypt, taking in how the civilization turned out after his disappearance. He is displeased by how the humans behave until something catches his eye, or rather someone.

Ororo Munroe, better known by her moniker Storm stands across the street from him and uses her powers to distract some merchants with a gust of wind while she steals their money.

The merchants however are hot on her heels and catch her a few moments later when she turned into a dead end. The two merchants who caught her want to cut of her hand as punishment for stealing when En Sabah Nur approaches the leader from behind, telling them to stop in a to them unrecognizable dialect.

When three other merchants arrive, the leader threatens En Sabah Nur with his dagger, assured of his dominance until En Sabah Nur, also known as Apocalypse, raises his hand and turns part of the wall next to him into particles and beheads the three newcomers.

The leader watches this, fearing his nearing death while the other merchant takes off in a sprint.

Apocalypse approaches the dagger wielding man and drives him into a corner, where he uses his powers to swallow the man into the building itself.

Storm watches this in horror and astonishment. When Apocalypse turns to her, looking at her with interest she decides not to upset the powerful mutant and leads him to the hideout she and her fellow teen thieves use. Once there she sends them away other than a redheaded boy, who goes over to her and the blue skinned man curious how or rather what he is.

* * *

"I've never seen another mutant other than me and Gaara in this town." She tells Apocalypse, grabbing Gaara's shoulder when she talked about him.

"Do you speak Arabic? Eqypt? English?" Storm asks him in different languages, but he doesn't respond and instead looks at the picture of Mystique Storm keeps in her hideout.

"She's a great fighter. I want to be like her, she's my hero."

"You're a fool. She is the most hunted mutant on the planet, only someone with a death wish would follow her during these times." Gaara tells her.

"Shut up, I can do whatever I want." Storm snaps back at her best friend.

Apocalypse sees the TV running in a corner of the room and goes over to it, touching the screen, which turns into static.

"What are you doing?" Storm asks him as he kneels before the machine.  
"learning." He replies in English.

"Where did you come from?" Ororo asks, offering him a drink as he gets up from the TV mumbling something to himself.

"A time before man lost his way." Apocalypse replies, rejecting the drink.

"Well, welcome to the 80th." Storm tells him, raising her coke.

"This world needs to be saved." En Sabah Nur says, looking thoughtfully.

"You can't save the world, going around killing people. There is systems in place." Storm tells him.

"Wait, he killed someone?" Gaara asks concerned, moving in front of his friend.

"My child, why do you enslave yourself?" Apocalypse asks her, shoving Gaara aside only for his body to turn into sand and reappear unmoving, his arms crossed over his chest, receiving an intrigued look from Apocalypse.

"What are you doing?" Ororo asks when Apocalypse stretches out his hand towards her.

"Making you stronger." He answers with his eyes turning white as he grabs Ororo's shoulder and she groans out, standing there frozen in place while her hair turns from black to white.

"Stop it." Gaara yells, trying to free his friend but Apocalypse pushes him away with a force wave.

When Apocalypse finishes enhancing Ororo's powers she looks up at him, feeling the energy rushing through her body and is grateful for his gift.

"It's alright Gaara, he helped me." Ororo tells her friend, helping him up.

"You sure? I mean white looks good on you but are you sure you're feeling OK?" Gaara asks her concerned, looking her over for any injuries.

"Yes. He only wants to help us mutants, I can feel it.

"She is right young one. In fact, why don't I help you reach your full potential as well." Apocalypse says going over to him and taking his hand, placing it on the floor with his over Gaara's.

"Feel the sand move in the ground. Feel it's vibration, let it talk to you, ask it for power." Apocalypse tells him, using his abilities to empower Gaara while explaining what Gaara will be able to do with his mutation.

Much to everyone's surprise however Gaara suddenly falls down face first on the ground only to shoot up on his knees with a jerk, screaming in pain as a symbol burns itself onto his forehead, angled to the left.

"What is happening? Don't hurt him please." Ororo begs Apocalypse.

"This is not my doing child. Something else interfered with my teachings and entered his body.

When Gaara stops screaming he hunches over panting in exhaustion as a gourd slowly forms itself on his back by sucking up the sand surrounding them in masses.

"Interesting, now child. We don't have time to wait until you've learned to resist whatever is now inside yourself, so I'll have to take over your mind for the time being. But rest easy, when you come to it will be at the dawn of a new age." Apocalypse promises him before Gaara goes limp after which he promptly stands up, next to Apocalypse following him on his every move.

Storm watches this with worry as the only person she could call family and she's grown to love becomes a soulless puppet but she also realizes that there is not much she can do and that the best chance Gaara has of going back to normal will be if she helps Apocalypse achieve his goals.

* * *

AN: review please :)


	2. Chapter 2

Gaara the fifth horseman

AN: Hey guys, I know this chapter is very close to the original story, but that should change from next chapter on, since Gaara is now back in control. Also if anyone has any ideas, on what missions/ situations I could make for the time in between Apocalypse and Dark phoenix PM me.

* * *

While this is happening in Egypt, Mystique who rescued a teenaged mutant called Nightcrawler, brings him to Kaliban for him to get new documents.

When she is at Kaliban's however he tells her what happened not too long ago with her old friend Eric Lehnsherr, aka. Magneto. He popped up in Poland where a squad of soldiers was found dead along with his wife and daughter. After hearing this Mystique hurries back to the Institute, making use of Nightcrawlers ability to teleport them over the country.

After getting Storm to follow him, along with the mind-controlled Gaara Apocalypse uses one of his abilities to create a portal. This portal brings the three of them right into Kaliban's shop, who was already closing up due to it being a much later hour in Germany than it is in Egypt.

* * *

"We're closed." Kaliban says, stopping counting his money.

"Hah, I knew there was a chill in the air." He says looking up to see Storm standing right across from him.

"How did you get in here?" He questions relaxed.

"We let ourselves in. We are looking for mutants and since you know where to find them we came here." Storm replies.

"Kaliban doesn't know you." Kaliban says looking at Apocalypse with wonder, as Apocalypse and Gaara walk over to them, standing next to Storm.

"We're looking for the strongest." Apocalypse tells him.

"Everything alright?" Psylocke asks, coming out of the backroom.

"It's fine Psylocke." Kaliban tells her.

"How much money do you have?" Kaliban asks Apocalypse.

"None." Gaara replies in an emotionless tone.

"Well, like Kaliban said we're closed." Kaliban tells them after hearing that they're broke.

"I need your help my child." Apocalypse tells him, taking off his hood.

"You don't look like Kaliban's father." Kaliban tells him and takes out a gun, pointing it at Apocalypse, who scoffs disappointed and dissolves the gun with his eyes glassing over.

"You are all my children and you're lost because you follow blind leaders. These false gods, systems of the weak. They've ruined my world, well No more!" Apocalypse says, after which Psylocke, who slowly made her way over to the four takes out her Katana, pointing it at Storm's throat and creates a blade of energy from her hand close to Apocalpyse's throat. When this happens Gaara's gourd pop open and two streams of sand come out, hovering over the respective weapons' edges to protect Storm and Apocalpyse.

"What do you want?" Psylocke asks threateningly.

"I want you to feel the full reach of your power." Apocalypse tells her, looking into her eyes with his glazing over and the blade construct from Pyslocke grows in size.

"You've only had a taste of your true strength unlike others who seek to control you." Apocalypse tell her, looking at Kaliban.

"I want to set you free." Apocalypse offers her.

"I know the kind of mutants you're looking for and I know where to find them." Psylocke tells him, lowering her blade and dissolving her construct, making Apocalypse smile slightly while Gaara's gourd re-absorbs the sand into it. Good, come with me then child." Apocalypse tell her and creates a portal for them to get to a secluded area, somewhere in a desert.

* * *

"Where are we?" Psylocke asks looking around with Storm doing the same.

"At a save place with no one to interfere with what's to come." Apocalyspe tell her, touching her arm and a bright pink light of energy circles around Psylocke, growing in strength, until it flows into her.

"Gaara, are you doing OK?" Storm asks her red-headed friend with worry while Apocalypse is empowering Psylocke.

"He cannot answer you my child. He is still asleep for now, the other being inside him would be able to overpower him otherwise." Apocalypse tells her.

After empowering Psylocke and creating fitting clothes for her Apocalypse portals them to the first mutant Psylocke points him to, the very same mutant Nightcrawler had to fight before Mystique rescued him, Angel.

"Verpiss dich or should I say piss off." Angel says, sitting on a beam in an empty barren with a bottle of booze in his hand.

"This is the guy?" Storm asks shocked, seeing the broken form of the man with only one good pair of wings.

"He used to be, I didn't know his wing… Let's get out of here. His fighting days are done." Psylocke tells them.

"No they're not." Apocalypse tells her while Angel flops down to the ground.

"What the hell is this?" He asks, looking at the four people which arrived through the portal.

"I want to give you something." Apocalypse tells him.

"There is nothing you can give me that I want." Angel replies.

"Yes thers is." Gaara says for Apocalypse while the blue mutant stretches out one hand to Angel, who then falls to his knees screaming in pain as the bones, coming out of his back turn into metal ones, with Metal feathers growing on them.

Storm looks upon this scene with mild disgust and some doubt of what they are trying to do.  
"Yes. Rise my Angel!" Apocalypse says.

After Angel is transformed Apocalypse gets the last mutant's name from Psylocke and she tells him where to find him. After creating a portal to his location the now five of them walk in on Magneto telling his former co-workers that he is going to kill them to right the wrong done to him and his family.

Turning to face them after feeling something powerful and dangerous arrive behind him he turns to the five asking "Who the fuck are you?"

Apocalypse takes a few steps closer to Magneto.

"Stay back, whoever you are don't try to stop me from killing these men." Magneto tells him.

Apocalypse looks around the room once with his eyes glassing over and Magneto only hears a communal shriek of panic before the room grows silent. He turns to look at what happened and sees some twitching body parts remain stuck out of the floor.

"I'm not here for them. I'm here for you." Apocalypse tells him.

He then goes back over to his group and creates a portal, turning to Magneto again and saying, "Come and see." Making the Man grieving for his family follow them.

"They appear in Auschwitz, right at the Gates Magneto first awakened his power when his parents were sent away to be killed.

"This is where your power was born, and this is where your people were slaughtered." Apocalypse says.

"You shouldn't have brought me here." Magneto tells him.

"Why? Are you afraid to be here? You can't escape it Eric." Apocalypse tells him.

"Who are you?" Magneto asks weary of the blue man.

"El-Ohim, Shin, Rah, I've been called many names over many lifetimes, I am born of death. I was there to fan the spark of man's awakening. To spin the wheel of civilization and when the forest was growing brank and needed place for new growth, I was there to set it ablaze." Apocalypse replies.

"Where were you when my father was slaughtered in this place?" Magneto asks accusingly.

"Asleep, trapped in darkness. I wasn't there for you then son, but I am here now. You don't know your own strength, but I do. Reach down, feel the metal in the ground, reach as deep as you can. You'll find you have the power to move the very earth itself." Apocalypse tells him, putting Magneto's hand to the floor.

Magneto feels himself remembering all what caused him pain in the past, the death of his parents, him feeling betrayed by Charles and his mutants, the death of his wife and daughter.

He uses this overwhelming wave of emotions to power himself and feels that he can move the very magnetic fields of the earth itself and is quick to prove this power by ripping Auschwitz to shreds.

* * *

Meanwhile in America Pietro, a young mutant who can move at superspeed has just watched the news of Magento resurfacing in Poland and decides, despite his mothers warning to go see the man, who can give him answers for the questions he has about his long lost dad, Charles Xavier.

At the Xavier school for gifted youngsters Charles and Havok arrive back from picking up Moira McTaggart, who was there when Apocalypse resurrected.

When Charles enters his home however he sees the face of his first friend, Raven aka. Mystique with her normal blonde look.

After a shaky reunion the two decide that they have to help Eric after the loss of his new family and go into Cerebro to contact the metal-controlling mutant along with Moira, Havok and Hank aka. Beast.

Charles makes contact with Eric and tries to talk him out of what they assume he's going to do and to let them help him but Eric doesn't think that it's the right way and tells Charles that humans took everything from him and now they will take everything from humans.

Eric gets Apocalypse's attention who uses his powers to see what is happening with the metal-controlling mutant and feels the presence of another mutant in him, one capable of telepathically reaching every being on the planet.

"Extraordinary." Apocalypse gasps.

"What do you see?" Angel asks.

"The answer." Apocalypse tells him and enters Eric's mind, letting Charles look into his very mind, showing him countless years of war and oppression of humankind under the rule of him and his mutants.

Apocalypse uses the connection to Charles to take over his mind and control him much like he does Gaara and uses Cerebro to connect to humans all over the earth, using Charles as a conduit and makes the humans fire all their nuclear missiles into space. Charles manages to fight back against Apocalypse and tells Alex to destroy Cerebro, fearing what Apocalypse might do next after getting rid off all the heavy weaponry on the planet.

"Wreak Havok." Hank tells his friend and Alex uses his power to shoot a laser out of his chest and ones from his hands as well, destroying the very panels Cerebro is made up of. He keeps up this destruction until the hologram in the room starts to fade away as Charles slumps down unconscious in his chair.

The four people with him wheel Charles out of the destroyed room and check if he is OK but receive no reply. However, they see Apocalypse arriving in a portal with his five followers. Magneto uses his powers to levitate Charles, still in his wheelchair over to them while Apocalypse reopens a portal. Alex runs after them and charges up a powerful laser blast, headed right at them. Apocalypse uses his control over Gaara to block the beam while he and his four horsemen take their leave with their prisoner.

Gaara blocks the beam with some difficulty as his Sand becomes Glass and he has to erect a new layer constantly.

This stops however when Apocalypse stepped through the portal, leaving him behind and severing his connection to the teen.

Gaara regains control over his body, falling on his knees, with the laser firing over his head. A loud boom follows this, with the whole Institute, starting at their location going up in an explosion. After tearing down the glass wall with his powers Gaara barely manages to take a few steps forward to grab Alex before both of them get engulfed by the flames shooting right at them. Much to his luck however his gourd erects a dome around the two of them on it's own, protecting them from the blast but they get shot right out of the house as a result, knocking against each other and losing consciousness.

As Gaara and Alex are sailing through the house Quicksilver arrives at the institute and runs in just in time, rescuing everybody but the two of them.

* * *

The students along with Hank, Moira and Mystique find themselves outside their school, which is now in ruins.

"Wow." Quicksilver remarks, looking at the destruction.

"Where did you come from?" Hank asks the unfamiliar face amongst his students.

"I was looking for the professor, I thought he lived here." Quicksilver replies.

"They took him." Hank says worried about his friends' fate.

As the students regain their bearings Mystique has unknowingly shifted into her natural, all blue form, making the teens look at her with respect and admiration.

"They look up to you. Right now they need you." Hank tells her.

"That's not what they need." Mystique replies and turns herself back to her blonde look.

Scott, Jean, Jubilee and Kurt pull up next to the group, having turned their car around when they heard the explosion.

"What happened? Where is Alex, where is my brother?" Scott asks, looking around the group in panic.

"Pretty sure I got everybody." Quicksilver replies confident.

"Alex was closest to the blast." Hank tells him.

Scott starts to breathe heavily and runs to the ruins, looking for any sings of his brother with Jean and Kurt close behind him.

Not a minute later a chopper lands on an empty field next to the gathering and soldiers get out of the vehicle, firing sonic weapons into the air, knocking everybody, other than Jean, Kurt and Scott out.

"I want her, him, him, her and whoever is inside that thing." The leader announces to his troops, pointing at Moira, Hank, Quicksilver, Mystique and The Sand dome sticking out of the ground a couple dozen feet away from everybody.

The soldiers start to load everyone in their chopper and a couple of men start to break the Dome shielding Gaara and Havok.

"Sir, there are two inside." A solider yells, after cracking open the dome.

"Take him, he's of no use to us." The leader tells them, pointing at Gaara.

The soldiers load Gaara on a board while putting Alex on the floor.

"That's Alex." Scott whispers happily.

"Quiet, stay still." Jean reprimands him when a soldier comes their way and she uses her powers to make him think they aren't there.

As two soldiers are carrying Gaara to the chopper the gourd, which was used up all to protect Gaara, starts to suck in new sand to resupply.

"What the hell? Shoot him up, we'll lock him up with his new cellmate, I'm interested to see what he'll do against weapon X." The leader tells them.

"We've got to help them. Kurt can you get us in that thing?" Scott asks his blue-skinned friend.

"What if the soldiers see us?" Kurt asks.

"Don't worry, they won't see us trust me." Jean tells him and Kurt grabs their hands, teleporting into the loading bay of the chopper just before the door closes and the leader turns on a power- dampening field.

"Kurt, get us all out of here." Scott tells him.

"I can't. Some interference, it's like Berlin all over." Kurt says freaking out.

"Jean get into the pilots' head." Scott tells her.

"I can't I can't reach the pilots, I can't reach anyone." Jean tells him.


	3. Chapter 3

|two hours later|

Mystique, Hank, Moira and Quicksilver wake up in a cell together.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you is that going to happen to all of us?" Pietro asks upon seeing Hank with his blue fur.

"No, I just left my meds in the house." Hank replies.

"Hey, where are we?!" Mystique shouts up to the soldier watching them from a window above them.

"Hello Mystique." He says.

"Major Striker." She greets him back.

"Colonel Striker and I wouldn't get to close to the wall if I were you, it may create some discomfort." He tells the group.

"I'm Moira McTaggart, I'm a senior officer of the CIA and you cannot keep me here." Moira tells him.

"Actually I can. A psychic event just destroyed every nuke from here to Moskow. That event originated from exactly where we found you. At the home of the world's most powerful psychic. So now you're going to tell me, where is Charles Xavier?" Striker informs her.

"It's not him you should be worried about. There is someone else, someone more powerful." Moira warns him.

"If you let us out of here, we can help you." Mystique tells him.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? You can put on any face you want but I know who you are, what you are." Striker replies.

"Uhm Moira, what did you mean when you said someone more powerful than Charles?" Hank asks unsettled and the woman fills her fellow prisoners in on what she knows about Apocalypse.

Meanwhile elsewhere on the base Jean, Scott and Kurt are searching the base, looking for Hank and the others with Jean hiding them from guards with her psychic ability.

"What's taking so long?" Scott asks Kurt, who is trying to teleport through a door.

"I can't get in, they have a field around it like the helicopter." Kurt informs his two friends.

"Well there's got to be a way to cut the power." Scott says and the three continue on, looking for a way to free their friends.

While they are looking through the base, everywhere on earth people get a message from Apocalypse, who uses Charles abilities to speak to every living human on earth and tells them that their world is coming to an end and that he is going to build a new one from the ashes of the old. The last message of Apocalypse which is that the strong will inherit the world Charles doesn't transmit and instead asks the strong to protect the weak.

While he is transmitting Apocalypses message he reaches out to Jean and asks her to find him and Apocalypse.

"He just spoke to me." Jean tells her two friends.

"I think we all heard him." Kurt chimes in.

"No, he sent me a hidden message, one that only I would hear. I know where they are." Jean tells them. In their moment of carelessness, a guard finds them and opens fire. Kurt grabs his friends and teleports them somewhere else in the compound, but they get picked up on the security cameras.

The three arrive in a room where some Generators are kept and teleport in with Kurt's help but once inside they see a large container with two sounds of growling and howling coming from inside, one sounding more like a darker growl similar to a wolf and the other one is of a higher pitch and is familiar to a Hyena's laughter.

"There's some kind of animal inside." Scott says wearily, eyeing the container with his two friends.

"It's no animal. There are people inside." Jean tells them, feeling the human minds inside the container.

"A part of the first one has been taken away and the second one is asleep?" She tells them confused.

"What do you mean?" Scott asks.

"I mean they turned him into some kind of weapon." Jean explains. A moment later guards arrive, and Jean, Scott and Kurt hide behind the container and Jean removes the lock from its door quietly, with her telekinesis.

Once the fortified container is unlocked alarms start blaring and the personnel on the base starts to panic.

A muscular man, dressed in a pair of worn shorts steps outside with a remainder of some kind of headband on him, obviously intending to control him but the wires of the receiver have been ripped of.

"Fire!" One of the three guards who were sent to collect the intruders yells and they open fire on the man, who gets angry and three metal claws on each hand appear in between his knuckles.

Before he attacks the firing soldiers however another being steps outside, one which sends chills down the three young mutants backs. It is a creature made of sand, the size of a large bear ,with purple lines running over its body and a tail waving angrily behind it, almost hitting the three young creature looks only partially formed however, with a third of it being a teen around their age with red hair and a carving on his forehead.

Gaara, who is still knocked out has been overtaken by the other entity which was forced into him when Apocalypse enhanced his powers.

"You dare try to control me and force me into this host?! You will pay for that!" the creature formed around Gaara's body screeches with its half of its face and sends a blast of Sand towards the men, holding them against a wall and impaling them with multiple sand spears.

The creature looks at the man it was imprisoned with and gives him a sinister smile after which the two start to run through the base, killing and maiming whoever they come across in a grueling fashion, splattering the ground and walls with blood.

* * *

Scott, Jean and Kurt follow the trail of carnage until they reach the two, with the man opening a door to the outside for them.

"Scott wait!" Jean stops him from shooting the two with his lazers while the two turn to them, the older man simply eyeing them uncertainly while the creature waits for the outcome from Jean trying to talk the other guy down.

"I can help you." Jean tells the older man and takes off the headband from him before touching the sides of his head and helping him remember, what she can with her still untrained ability.

The man calms down and removes some pieces of electronics still embedded in him and throw it to the floor, leaving him in only his shorts before he runs out of the compound and into the cold.

"Who are you?" The sand creature asks the three mutants in a shrill voice.

"I'm Scott, what are you?" The glasses wearing teen replies.

"I wasn't talking to you red-eye." The creature around Gaara says and focuses his eyes on Jean.

"I'm Jean. I can try to help you if you let me." She offers him, feeling confident after helping the other man remember some of his past.

"Hahahaha! Clearly you can't if you don't even grasp that I am not the boy you see. He is merely the container I was forced into." The creature replies and pokes the sleeping Gaara slightly.

"What are you then?" Jean asks, hoping to not anger whatever caused the carnage they witnessed.

"I am Shukaku and I am the all-powerful sand-elemental! Normally I wouldn't bother with humans as I've transcended their grasp of understanding but one of your kind sealed me into this puny human." Shukaku says.

"Is there no way to free you from him?" Jean asks.

"I don't know, I've only been bonded to this person for a day and most of the time whoever sealed me kept me sealed away from his mind so I can't take over and get revenge." Shukaku informs her.

"I know someone who can help you then. In fact, we are trying to free our friends and save the world from destruction right now." Jean says.

"I feel like you are telling the truth and to be honest I'm getting tired of staying in this form with no sand around. It's just no fun, so talk to the boy and tell him to get me out of his body and get your friend to free me from my cell inside the boys head or you all will regret it!" Shukaku tells them while the Sand around Gaara starts to flow down his body and get sucked into the gourd on his back with Gaara remaining on the ground still asleep.

"What the fuck was that?" Scott yells freaked out.

"It was very disturbing." Kurt agrees.

"I know this sounds weird but I think it was telling the truth, I was only able to see very little into its mind but I believe its story and have seen how it was sealed away against its will." Jean tells her friends.

"So now what? Do we drag him around with us?" Scott asks with a scoff.

"Wait, let me try something." Jean says and taps Gaara's forehead, right on the symbol carved in his forehead and wakes him telepathically.

"Who… Who are you and where am I?" Gaara asks the three, shooting up and going with his back against a wall while raising a loose sand shield in front of him, blocking him from the three with only his face being revealed to them while the sand hovers in mid-air.

"We are mutants as well and we are trying to save our friends, they have been kidnapped same as you were." Jean explains calmly, while Scott watches this with a frown, not liking them getting sidetracked by the sand user.

"Come on let's go. You woke him up, what he does is up to him now." Scott says and grabs Jean's arm and starts to drag her away with her trying to protest but he ignores it and drags her away with Kurt following behind them.

"Where, am I?" Gaara asks himself, his sand recalling itself back into the gourd and he looks out of the opened door, into the icy wilderness.

"This is not good." He says, feeling cold.

"I guess I have no choice but to follow them." Gaara says and forms a board of sand under him and uses it to fly after the three.

* * *

When the three mutants reach their friends, Kurt goes to the observing room and warns the captives to stay away from the door, just before Scott uses his laser eyes to blow a hole in the door.

"We know where the professor is." Jean tells the group which steps out of their cell.

"Well you've been busy." Mystique tells them, meaning the carnage the group also witnessed partially.

"We had a little help." Scott replies and leads the group through the compound, to the hangar.

Just as they step through the door Gaara catches up to the group, now consisting of 7.

"Are these your friends?" Gaara asks, looking around the new faces with unease, since he'd be largely outnumbered if they decided to fight him.

"Yes. Come on we can get you out of here." Jean tells him, offering him her hand.

"Hey Hank, do you think you can fly this thing?" Mystique asks Hank, when they see a jet in the room.

"Yeah, I think I can manage." Hank tells her.

"Hey guys. Flight suits." Scott tells them as he opens a cabinet with around 10 black combat suits in it.

"You've got your war plane, so lets go to war." Mystique tells Hank.

"War? Who are you guys?" Gaara asks them, being on guard at the blonde's exclamation.

"We are trying to safe the world. Didn't you hear the message that this mutant is trying to destroy the world?" Hank asks the newcomer with annoyance.

"He probably didn't at the time he was still unconscious." Jean informs Hank.

"Wait, destroy the world? Are you talking about, what was his name? En Sabah nur?" Gaara asks them.

"Yes. How do you know that name?" Moira asks shocked.

"He controlled my mind. When he released me from his control I was caught in an explosion, I don't know how I survived." Gaara tells them.

"Right. You must've been the one who saved Alex. You were inside the sand dome!" Kurt guesses, not having seen the guys face from their hiding point back at the institute.

"You saved my brother? It makes sense how you ended up here but how did you get to the institute?" Scott asks, opening up to the teen since he saved his brother from death.

"En Sabah Nur portaled them in, I remember you now. You were the one helping them kidnap the professor!" Hank shouts and jumps at Gaara, only for a shield to form around Gaara, without the teens doing.

"What is going on?" Gaara asks confused at Hank attacking him and at the sand moving on its own.

"Stop everyone. We don't have time for this. We'll figure this out on the plane. Are you coming with us or not?" Mystique tells everyone and asks Gaara if he is coming.

Hank scoffs but gets to the jet and Gaara nods towards the blonde woman once the sand has recalled itself.

The group then gets in the jet and take off.

* * *

"What happened back at the Institute?" Mystique asks Gaara, breaking the awkward silence in the jet.

"I don't know. All I remember is dodging a laser blast and then the explosion happened. Before that I was back in Egypt in our hideout and this En Sabah nur did something to me." Gaara explains.

"He sealed something inside you. We met it. It called itself a sand-elemental." Jean explains.

"Is that what is making the sand move on its own?" Gaara asks.

"It moves on its own? I thought you were a mutant with control over sand." Kurt says surprised.

"I am but when the blue guy jumped at me the sand protected me on its own." Gaara explains, pointing at Hank.

"Wait, you said our hideout who else did you mean?" Moira asks.

"Ororo. Or as she likes to call herself Storm. She's another mutant and En Sabah Nur changed her like he did me. But she said it was OK and he helped her." Gaara explains confused himself.

"It's alright, we'll get this all sorted out one way or another." Moira tells the confused teen, who stares at his hands as Sand is swirling around it.

"I can't control it." Gaara mumbles.

"What?" Scott asks not having understood him and sitting across from him, next to Kurt while Jean is one seat away from Gaara.

"I can't control it. I'm not doing this." Gaara tells him while Sand swirls around him slowly.

Jean takes the seat next to him and puts her hand on his shoulder saying, "It's OK. I'm sure the professor can help you once all this is over. The elemental said that he wants to be separated from you again and that the professor should free it from its cage inside your mind."

"I hope he can help me." Gaara says defeated.

"He can. Trust me." Jean says and grabs his hand, squeezing it for support.

"Thank you. I'm Gaara." He introduces herself.

"Jean Grey." She replies with a small grin before she takes her hand back.

"So you control sand, can you do something else?" She asks him.

"grab my arm." Gaara says, holding out his arm for her and she looks at him uncertainly but gets a confident nod from him and she grabs the arm only for it to come apart and her to have a hand full of sand with a hole being in Gaara's arm.

"Cool." She says impressed while Gaara recalls the sand, forming his arm whole again.

"Let me try." Scott says intrigued and goes over to Garaa, reaching towards the teen but is blocked by a wall of sand erecting in front of his hand, being as hard as stone.

"I didn't do that." Gaara tells the glasses wearing teen, feeling guilty.

"Yeah right." Scott scoff and goes back to his seat.

"Don't worry. He's not the brightest so it'll take him a while to understand that you have another consciousness inside you." Jean tells Gaara.

Gaara only gives her a doubtful look before saying , "We both know that's just wishful thinking but thanks anyways."

* * *

AN: Let me know what you think and stay safe with Corona Virus going around :)


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